HELP! Possible Shrink wrap but alive! Can I save her?

fatcatx

Songster
8 Years
Apr 7, 2013
601
163
217
Northern California
No idea what to do as this point! Egg had been rocking for over 3 days. Chick peeping loudly yesterday. Today there was no movement or peeping. Since it had been over 24 hours after internal with no external pip, I made a air cell hole and it looks like the chick is shrink wrapped and barely moving. I can't even tell where the internal pip was made! Is it possible for the internal pip to seal itself back up?

Lockdown has been at 65-70% humidity. Is there anything I can do at this point without doing more harm than good?
 
It's your call re: assisting or not. If all the blood vessels are dried up, and you can locate the chick's beak, you may be able to tear through the membrane so it can breathe. then, you'll need to very carefully and very slowly work the membrane away from the face. The most important thing is to be sure the blood vessels have ALL dried out of the membrane, and that the entire yolk sack is absorbed. You may only need to do a partial assist, which would be better for the baby. Chicks that are truly shrink wrapped, but have receeded blood vessels and absorbed yolks, I've helped them by using a bowl of warm water to gently ease the membrane off them. You also need to be very careful that the umbilicus is dry enough. Any pulling or rupture of that can cause the chick to bleed out.
 
Some blood vessels still remain. I sprinkled warm water so I could see through the membrane better. Too many blood vessels near the head and beak. Now I'm second guessing everything!
sad.png
How could she have internally pipped and be peeping with that many blood vessels in the way?
 
After assisting a sticky chick, I recommend making sure the eyes and vent and clear of stickiness. On the vent I would also put a tiny tab of vaseline. They always seem to be worst in these areas.
 
Chick still in egg as she is not ready to come out yet. My intent was to just give her a breathing hole in the shell but it is unclear if/how she internally pipped. She was cheeping up a storm yesterday so none of this makes sense. I risk nicking blood vessels if I try to free her beak and she needs to stay put in the shell for at least a day I'm guessing. I've decided to leave her for now - I'm risking the other eggs that are left at this point. So frustrating!
he.gif
I guess I have to learn things the hard way.
 
Last edited:
Reading through my books and posts on development they are not clear when the veins have receded. Should everything be absorbed before internal pip? Or Does the absorption complete between internal and external pip?
 
Sounds to me like you are doing the right things. I don't think you will find a definitive answer to that because those last things happen so rapidly and can happen in different orders. When its ready to start coming out, it will pip, and that could be just into the air cell, or it could also break the shell a that time. Then it rests and breathes, and finishes absorbing the blood and yolk. But some will still try to come out before all of that is finished. I'm no expert, but that's the way I understand it. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken.
 
Thank you for input and thoughts. Just trying to figure out if I made things better or worse. That is the worst part of assisted hatching - can't go back and answer "what if".
sad.png
Still breathing - I have not risked taking the egg back out of the incubator and I have another pipping so trying to keep the humidity up.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom